STR DESTINATION HANDLING - Key Persons
Aaron Halbritter found his passion for travelling early on, a passion which would later lead him into tourism. A year of work & travel in New Zealand and then a great deal of private travel in Europe, Africa, Central America and Asia made it clear to him that he had to turn travel into a career. From travel agency and business travel as a dual student of tourism management, he found his way to STR Destination Handling in October 2022, where he is now completing his dual Master's degree in International Management. In his free time, fitness enthusiast Aaron plays football and basketball, does martial arts and, of course, still enjoys trips around the world.
Aaron Halbritter is your contact for the following incoming partners:
Ahlam joined us in April 2018, having worked for DER Touristik International before. She studied ethnology and cultural anthropology and wrote her master's thesis on the topic of "Tourism and Sustainability". Since April 2022 she has been on maternity leave.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner
- Member of the STR Team
After eight years working in the hotel industry in the Middle East, Carol returned to Germany in 2000. After running her own sales & marketing representation, she joined STR Destination Handling in 2003 as partner.
In addition to further expand the leisure segment and overall marketing efforts, she established a second main pillar: the MICE segment. Carol and Oliver founded STR ProMICE in 2016 with an independent identity and a tailor-made DMC offering specifically geared towards the MICE segment. This was followed by their joint expansion with the companies in the Middle East and Scandinavia.
As she still has a strong tourism network in Switzerland, Carol will continue to be responsible for sales activities in this market for the entire portfolio of STR Destination Handling.
Job Titles:
- Director Sales & Operations at MacSun - Travel Skopje
Christin completed a vocational training as International Tourism Assistant before studying Management and Tourism. She worked for our DMC Partner Arabian Explorer in the UAE before joining MacSun. In Christins current role, she is in charge of all contracting & sales activities in the German speaking markets.
Christin Freyer-Maher is your contact for the following incoming partners:
In addition to her experience as Head of Contracts at Eurotours Austria, one of the largest tour operators in Austria, she holds a Bachelor's degree. Before Daniela joined us in April 2022, she was the owner of a little café in Rosenheim and worked as sales manager for an IT distributor. At STR, Daniela mainly looks after our DMC partners in Latin America, Portugal, Spain and the Middle East.
Daniela Löbbert is your contact for the following incoming partners:
Job Titles:
- Sales & Marketing Executive
Erna has a degree in International Business Administration from the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, with a focus on market-advertising-media psychology and marketing. Before joining STR Destination Handling in 2017, Erna worked as a Marketing & Sales Manager for a medium-sized wholesaler of home textiles.
Erna is currently on maternity leave.
Working in tourism has always been a dream of Gudrun's, which came true thanks to her training as a tourism specialist. As a hostess, she sailed through the eastern Mediterranean for a few months on a Greek cruise ship and subsequently worked for a sea tour operator. She then worked in sales and administration for a British airline. After the company takeover by the parent company, she started her career of almost 30 years with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (later Air France/KLM), where she worked in various departments: Reservations, Marketing, Customer Service and Sales. At STR, Gudrun has been supporting our sales team since April 2022.
Hugo Stinnes was quite at home in shipping and air traffic. After an apprenticeship in the Nautical Academy he worked with a shipbroker and then in the management of ALL AIR Cargo. In 1970, he went to Neckermann & Reisen and, with his feel for trends and destinations, expanded the long-haul product range at Neckermann in the 70s, also laying the foundation for many long-haul charters that we today take for granted. He had his finger on the pulse of the age when he set up on his own company STR Stinnes Touristic Representations, representing hotels, airlines, incoming agencies, and national tourism organizations. This as well as the two daughter companies STR Promotion and STR Destination, could keep up well with the fast developments in tourism. Since 2003, the official name of the company is STR Destination Handling and the number of employees has been increasing continuously. As Vice President Hugo Stinnes was responsible for long distance flights and cruises, and it soon got obvious that he had an excellent feeling for new destinations. In his role as Managing Director at STR Destination Handling he was always happy to pass on his valuable knowledge to each of us and was especially esteemed for his open ear for each team member. As our "Senior" he was always happy and ready to find a solution for each and every situation.
After successfully completing her apprenticeship as a data processing clerk and human resources specialist, Iris worked as a deputy human resources manager for 17 years. She left the company to take care of the financial accounting and commercial administration in her husband's company. Since April 2017, Iris has been part of our team, supporting Oliver Stinnes in the administrative area and is responsible for our accounting department.
Job Titles:
- Office Administrator
- Sales Manager
After his apprenticeship as an office administrator with a group tour operator, Moritz Schuermann was taken on directly into the long-haul travel team. He then got to know the DMC side of tourism and was responsible for the entire DACH market as Sales Manager for an Asian incoming agency, with a special focus on the leisure and luxury market. Moritz has been part of our team since March 2022 and is responsible in particular for our Asian DMCs.
Our colleague is a true sports enthusiast who loves tennis, jogging and hiking and can also be found reading a novel. His travel heart beats especially for beautiful Myanmar and mysterious Laos.
Moritz Schuermann is your contact for the following incoming partners:
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the STR Team
After an apprenticeship with Aerotrans, Oliver Stinnes soon became Director of Sales in the same company, being responsible for 17 cargo airlines. In 1994, he started as Director of Sales in his father's company STR and two years later he became Managing Director.
The strategic development, especially the expansion of STR Destination Handling in Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East are also among his areas of responsibility.
Oliver Stinnes is your contact for the following incoming partners:
Petra's career started after graduating from the international hotel management school with stays abroad in different countries around the globe. After returning to Vienna she worked for several tour operators. Before Petra joined STR Destination Handling as Sales Development Manager for Easia Travel in 2016, she had managed the Platinum Travel Service team at American Express Austria. In April 2021, Petra took over the position of Director of Sales at STR and works very closely with Oliver Stinnes, supporting the sales team and taking care of the organisational and strategic direction.
Petra Wagner-Zalusky is your contact for the following incoming partners:
Job Titles:
- Marketing & Communications Manager
Stephanie completed her English and Social Studies at Frankfurt Goethe University in 2008. Things started off for her as office manager at a corporate finance company in Frankfurt where part of her job was to support marketing campaigns. Stephanie joined STR Destination in 2011 and is responsible for PR, all things (online) marketing and SEO.